Decorative building panels such as shutters are widely used in the building industry to add decor to a house or other type of building structure. A popular type of building panel that is used is a window shutter. Window shutters, which are typically not functional, present a decorative façade that gives the appearance of being a functional shutter.
One popular style of shutter is commonly referred to as a batten shutter. The batten shutter includes a plurality of batten slats arranged vertically in a row. At least one, and usually two, cross slats overlay each of the batten slats. The cross slats adjoin the batten slats forming the batten shutter assembly. A simulated plastic batten shutter commonly includes slats having a decorative surface and flanges projecting rearwardly from the surface creating a hollow slat that gives the appearance of being a complete wooden slat. While the plastic materials reduce the cost of the batten shutter, manufacturing the shutters and mounting the shutters on a housing surface are labor-intensive and costly operations.